Method of stabilizing containers for bulk material



Feb. 7, 1967 RAOUL LOUIS ALBERT 3,302,356

ALSO KNOWN AS MICHEL NALPAS METHOD OF STABILIZING CONTAINERS FOR BULK MATERIAL Original Filed Aug. 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGS HGI

7, 1957 RAOUL LOUIS ALBERT 3,302,366

ALSO KNOWN AS MICHEL NALPAS METHOD OF STABILIZING CONTAINERS FOR BULK MATERIAL Original Filed Aug. 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent M 3,302,366 METHOD OF STARILIZING CQNTAINERS FOR BULK MATERHAL Raoul Louis Albert, also known as Michel Nalpas of Marcq-en-Baroeul, Nord, France, assignor to Societe Anouyme pronal, Roubaix, Nord, France, a corporation of France Original application Aug. 3, 1962, Ser. No. 214,661, now Patent No. 3,250,742, dated May 10, 1966. Divided and this application May 7, 1965, Scr. No. 454,772 Claims priority, application France, Aug. 16, 1961,

870,828; Jan. 29, 1962, 886,283 4 Claims. (Cl. 53-37) This application is a division of application Serial No. 214,661, filed August 3, 1962, now Patent No. 3,250,742.

This invention pertains to a method of stabilizing containers for transporting and/or handling bulk materials. In particular it relates to such a method particularly adapted to enable flexible containers, which are capable of being folded and/or rolled up for storage purposes, to safely transport liquid, semi-liquid, powdered or other products having fluid-like properties.

Experience has shown that although a container having merely a flexible wall can be used without difficulty in a fixed installation, it has serious drawbacks when it is placed on a vehicle and especially a road vehicle since as the wall of the container is not sufliciently held in position, the container is liable to become deformed and in particular to lean over in the lateral or longitudinal direction owing to the mass of the liquid or powdered products contained therein, especially in bends in the roads and during accelerations and decelerations. The fact that the container is thus thrown out of balance could be the cause of serious accidents.

The object of the invention is to remedy these disadvantages in a simple manner without diminishing in any way the possibilities of folding or rolling up the container when empty.

The present invention contemplates the stabilizing of an expandable container which is provided with inflatable compartment means connected With and projectable internally of the container.

The invention also provides a container, having a flexible fluidtight wall which is capable of being folded and/ or rolled up, for liquids or powdered products and more particularly for the transportation of said products over land, on rivers or the sea, or in the air. This container comprises inflatable fluidtight compartments, said compartments being secured to the wall of the container and adapted to project into the space defined by said wall when they are inflated so as to stiffen the container not only as a result of their own rigidity consequential to their inflation but also owing to the fact that when the container is full at least portions of the wall are put under tension under the effect of the pressure exerted by said compartments on the incompressible product filling the container.

Owing to the aforementioned feature, excellent rigidity is secured when the container is full and the compartments are inflated and consequently the container has high stability when it is placed on a vehicle subjected to lateral longitudinal forces while it is still possible to fold and/or roll up the container when empty.

In practicing this method invention, a container is substantially completely filled with material. Subsequent- 1y, fluid is supplied to inflatable compartment means of the container so as to inflate the compartment means and thereby expand the compartment means into compressing engagement with the material and stretch the container so as to stiffen it against lateral sway.

3,302,366 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 In practicing the invention a container may be employed having one or more inflatable, fluidtight compartments which are adapted to be expanded so as to project internally into the container interior.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawings to which the invention is in no way limited.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectional view taken along line 1-1 of FIG. 2 of a container according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a corresponding plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view thereof, the container being shown secured to the platform of a vehicle by a supporting frame; 1

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 3 on an enlarged scale, of one of the crescent-shaped stiffening compartments, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the container in the direction of arrow F shown in FIG. 2.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the body R of the container has a semi-cylindrical shape and a fiat base since it comprises a semi-cylindrical upper wall or skin 1, a flat bottom wall or skin 2 and two end walls or skins 3 and 4- which are substantially flat when the container body R is fairly full of product.

The body R comprises a strictly fluidtight and flexible wall, for examples consisting of fabric coated with a fluidtight product. The fabric can be a natural textile fabric such as cotton, or of a synthetic material such as a polyamide, superpolyamide or rayon. The fluidtight product can be natural or synthetic rubber or a plastic material such as polyvinyl chloride, a polyester or a superpolyamide.

The container body R is provided according to the invention with a number of stiffening pockets or compartments P P P P each of which has a crescent shape and is associated with substantially the entire transverse extent of the semi-cylindrical wall 1, the two end compartments P and P also being associated with the end walls 3 and 4.

These compartments are rendered integral with the wall of the body R by, for example, welding, sticking, stitching and/or clipping so that when these compartments are inflated as shown in the figures they, on the one hand, slightly project from the outer face of the body R and, on the other hand, project much further inwardly of said body, as can be clearly seen in FIGS. 1 and 4.

Consequently, as has been mentioned hereinbefore, if the container body is completely filled with liquid L or other product to be transported or stored, the inflation of these compartments causes pressure to be exerted on this liquid and this pressure, in acting through the medium of the liquid, stretches the wall of the body R and imparts to the assembly the required rigidity.

Each pocket or compartment can be advantageously constituted as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 by two side walls 5 and 6 which have a crescent shape, their outer and inner edges 7 and 8 being circular and all having the same radius of curvature. This permits, as has already been mentioned, cutting these walls without waste from a strip of material which constitutes these compartments and which can be identical or similar to that constituting the wall of the container body R.

These two walls 5 and 6 are preferably united along their edges 7 and 8 by two gussets, namely an outer gusset 9 and an inner gusset 10, secured to these walls by a for example welding, sticking or stitching. Preferably, two joint-covering strips 11 and 12 are also provided.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 the constructional details of the compartments have not been shown in order to render the drawing more clear.

The assembly comprising the container body R and the compartments P P P P bear on longitudinal straps 13 of a rigid securing frame C to which this assembly is secured by lateral transverse ties or straps 14 attached to the assembly. The frame consists of two longitudinal bars 15 and a number of transverse bars, namely end transverse bars 16 and intermediate transverse bars 17, these various elements of the frame being interconnected by sleeves, such as 18. The corner sleeves carry rings or other handling means 19.

The assembly is completed by means for filling and emptying the container body R, safety devices and means for inflating the stiffening compartments.

The container body R comprises at its upper part an inspection manhole 20 closed by a cover 21 which is provided with a filling aperture 22, having a safety valve and an escape vent 23. Other vents are provided at 24.

One of the end walls, for example wall 4, comprises a drain cock 25 having a connection 26 for example of the fire-hose type, and an inner filter 27.

For inflating the compartments P P there is provided above the container a conduit 28 supplied with compressed air by a pipe 29 through a valve 30. The conduit 28 is connected to each compartment by a flexible pipe 31, for example formed by a few spirals of pipe. A safety valve 32 and pressure gauge 33 are mounted on this conduit 28.

The improved container just described can be used at a fixed station or on a ground, river, sea or air vehicle. It can be attached to a support platform, such as S, by tightening devices T, for example having hooks 34 and 35 adapted to engage round the longitudinal bars 15 of the frame C and round the lateral edges of the platform S, a screw 36 screwed in the hook 35 permitting traction to be exerted on the other hook 34, which is pivoted to a nut 37 threadedly engaged on the screw.

It will be observed that it is possible to interconnect a plurality of flexible containers according to the invention, stiffened by the inflation of their compartments and attached to their frames C, in the manner of a line of barges for transporting on the sea or rivers instead of securing them to the deck or in the hold of a canal boat, cargoship or other ship.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been described, many modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

The shape of these compartments can be other than the illustrated crescent shape although the latter has shown itself to be particularly effective.

In the illustrated embodiment, the stiffening compartments are independent of one another, but they could be interconnected by solid or tubular spacer elements. In this case these spacer elements are preferably inflatable .1 and their interiors preferably communicate with the compartments they interconnect. Such spacer elements could be arranged as shown in dot-dash lines at E in FIG. 1. The container could be secured to the frame by further elements, such as longitudinal connecting ties or straps.

I claim:

1. The method of stabilizing an expandable, flexible, container having inflatable compartment means connected to and projectable internally of said container, said method comprising substantially completely filling said container with material, closing said container to trap said material therein, and subsequently, While preventing an outflow of said material from said container, supplying fluid under pressure to said compartment means to inflate said compartment means and thereby expand said compartment means into compressing engagement with said material and, stretch and tension said container, and stiffen the same against lateral sway.

2. The method of stabilizing an expandable, flexible, fluid-tight, bulk material carrying container having closed inflatable compartment means connected to and projecting internally of said container, and elosable filling means for filling said container with bulk material, said method comprising substantially filling said container with a bulk material, closing the filling means of the container to trap the bulk material therein, and subsequently, while preventing an outflow of said material from said container, supplying fluid under pressure to said compartment means to inflate said compartment means to thereby generate forces tending to compress said bulk material, stretch and tension said container, and stiifen the same against lateral sway.

3. The method of stabilizing an expandable, flexible, fluid-tight, bulk material carrying container, the outer portion of which is defined by a flexible skin, said container having closable bulk material inlet means, closed, inflatable, air compartment means connected to and projecting into said container, said method comprising substantially filling said container with a bulk, substantially incompressible material, closing the bulk material inlet means, and subsequently, while preventing an outflow of said material from said container, supplying air under pressure to said compartment means to inflate said air compartment means to thereby generate forces tending to compress said material, induce tensile stress in said skin and stiffen said container against lateral sway.

4. A method as described in claim 3 wherein said container, stiffened against lateral sway, is transported so as to be subject to acceleration and deceleration forces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,387,598 10/1945 Mercicr 53-36 X 3,057,588 10/1962 Kolbe -.5 X

FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

A. E. FOURNIER, R. L. FARRIS, Assistant Examiners. 

1. THE METHOD OF STABILIZING AN EXPANDABLE, FLEXIBLE, CONTAINER HAVING INFLATABLE COMPARTMENT MEANS CONNECTED TO AND PROJECTABLE INTERNALLY OF SAID CONTAINER, SAID METHOD COMPRISING SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETELY FILLING SAID CONTAINER WITH MATERIAL, CLOSING SAID CONTAINER TO TRAP SAID MATERIAL THEREIN, AND SUBSEQUENTLY, WHILE PREVENTING AN OUTFLOW OF SAID MATERIAL FROM SAID CONTAINER, SUPPLYING FLUID UNDER PRESSURE TO SAID COMPARTMENT MEANS TO INFLATE SAID COMPARTMENT MEANS AND THEREBY EXPAND SAID COMPARTMENT MEANS INTO COMPRESSING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID MATERIAL AND, STRETCH AND TENSION SAID CONTAINER, AND STIFFEN THE SAME AGAINST LATERAL SWAY. 